With Tigers ace Tarik Skubal a year away from free agency, the possibility exists that Detroit will make him available via trade this offseason while seeking a massive haul in return.
And Jon Heyman of The New York Post reports that the gap in what the Tigers have offered and what Skubal is seeking could be roughly $250 million.
The report from The Post regarding Detroit's offer is similar to one that came out last November from Evan Petzold in The Detroit Free Press, who noted that the Tigers' offer at the time was non-competitive.
Meanwhile, Tigers owner Christopher Ilitch gave a bit of a weird answer earlier this month when asked about a possible Skubal extension.
Adding more intrigue to the situation is the fact that the 28-year-old left-hander is repped by Scott Boras, who ordinarily takes his biggest clients to free agency.
That means the calculus for the Tigers could be simple: trade Skubal this offseason and maximize his value, or run the risk of losing him for draft pick compensation after the 2026 season.
In a world where Skubal is available this offseason, the Mets would almost certainly be very interested and in a strong position to make a highly competitive offer.
New York's farm system is among the best in baseball, and was recently rated by ESPN as the No. 1 system in MLB.
With Skubal one year from free agency, the cost to acquire him would be lower than a scenario where he had multiple years of team control left, but it would still be huge.
It's unclear what the Tigers would be seeking, but the Mets have blue chip pitching prospects and hitting prospects who are close to the majors and others who are further away. So it's fair to believe they'd be able to put together a package that piques Detroit's interest.
Among the Mets' top prospects are pitchers Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat, infielder/outfielder Jett Williams, center fielder Carson Benge, first baseman Ryan Clifford, third baseman Jacob Reimer, and shortstop Elian Peña.
As far as Nolan McLean, it's hard to envision the Mets including him in a deal for any player who is a pending free agent.
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